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The pottery of ancient Greece has provided us with some of the most distinctive pottery shapes and striking decoration from antiquity. This collection begins with the Minoans whose love of the sea and flowing, vibrant forms can be seen on the famous Marine Style askos. In the archaic period geometric designs gained popularity until designers eventually began... [continue reading]

Alabastron (pl. alabastra) - a small jar for storing perfumes, named after the material (alabaster) the first examples were made from. They were often carried by a string looped around the neck of the vessel. Amphora (pl. amphorae) - one of the most common forms in Greek pottery, various shapes, always with two vertical neck-handles and used... [continue reading]

A detail of the celebrated Athenian black-figure belly amphora (Type A) by Exekias, c. 530 BCE. The central scene depicts Achilles and Ajax playing a board game during a respite in the Trojan War. (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, The Vatican, Rome)

A detail from the handle of one of the finest surviving examples of Attic black-figure pottery, the Francois Vase (570-565 BCE) depicting Ajax carrying the body of Achilles during the Trojan War. (Archaeological Museum, Florence)

A kylix depicting the god Apollo pouring a libation and holding an early version of the lyre (chelys) which was made from the shell of a tortoise. The bird may represent the crow which announced the marriage of the nymph Aigle-Korone, the daughter of King Phlegyas. Provenance: Delphi, 480-470 BCE, artist unknown. (Delphi Archaeological Museum).

A red-figure loutrophoros from Apulia, 4th century BCE. These tall slim vessels with elongated handles were used during wedding and funeral rites and as grave markers, especially for those who died unmarried. This example depicts women and youths in preparation for a special ocassion. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).

An Attic astragalos clay vessel depicting possibly Aelous directing the dance of the clouds, 470-450 BCE. These vessels took the form of a knucklebone (hence their name) and were possibly used to also store sheep knucklebones which were used as gaming pieces and dice. (The British Museum, London).

An Attic black-figure neck-amphora (540-530 BCE) depicting Hercules wearing his lion skin and engaged in one of his celebrated 12 labours. The hero wrestles the hind of Keryneia and is breaking off one of its golden horns. On the left stands Athena and on the right Artemis. The amphora was a typical shape in Greek pottery and the designs on this example... [continue reading]

A black-figure Calyx-Krater from Attica, c. 530 BCE. The scene is probably the battle over Partoklos' body during the Trojan War. The figures wear the full hoplite panoply. (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)